Spend Some Quality Time with This Fund

Phalinn Ooi

Quality is a metric that applies to many things: The making of a piece of furniture or a new car, the beauty and technique of a piece of artwork and, of course, the soundness of one’s investments.

But one of the most important areas of life quality applies to is time. The time we have in this life is finite, and it stands to reason that we’d therefore want to use it on worthwhile pursuits. Whether through giving our full attention to loved ones, pursuing our passions or assisting worthy causes, quality time is something we should all seek to fill our lives.

In the case of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), their quality time is best spent filling their portfolios with the best investments. And few ETF managers know this better than those who lead the Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF (SPHQ).

Formed in 2005 by Invesco, SPHQ’s mission is to provide exposure to S&P 500 firms with sound fundamentals. To accomplish this goal, SPHQ focuses on three quality metrics. The first metric is return on equity (ROE), which measures overall profitability. The second is lower accruals, which is the change in net operating assets scaled by the average net operating assets over the past two years. This metric is used to potentially signal higher earnings quality. Finally, there’s financial leverage, which measures risk and earnings stability. These metrics are then equally weighted to produce a quality score.

SPHQ takes only the top quintile and scales them based on this quality score. Its exposure to any one specific market sector is capped at 40%, making it a particularly diverse ETF. The index it bases its investments on is rebalanced semi-annually. Currently, SPHQ has $7.32 billion in assets under management, and the fund’s expense ratio is 0.15%.

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Almost all SPHQ’s holdings are U.S. based. Its primary market sector is technology, which makes up over 54% of its portfolio after combining its various submarkets, such as health technology. SPHQ is diversified, however, with additional allocation in sectors such as commercial services and energy minerals. Its current top holdings include NVIDIA (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet Inc. (GOOG), Apple (AAPL), Visa (V) and Exxon Mobil (XOM).

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As of the close of trading on Feb. 6, the fund is up 6.63% in the last month, 13.10% in the past three months, 4.92% year to date and 23.84% in the last 12 months.

Quality isn’t just about picking the best products at the best price. It’s also about knowing what’s best for you. And making wise investment decisions is no different. So, keep an eye towards quality by considering your investment goals and doing your due diligence before adding any stock or exchange-traded fund (ETF) to your portfolio.

As always, I am happy to answer any of your questions about ETFs, so do not hesitate to email me. You may see your question answered in a future ETF Talk.

Jim Woods

Jim Woods is a 20-plus-year veteran of the markets with varied experience as a broker, hedge fund trader, financial writer, author and newsletter editor. Jim is the editor of Forecasts & Strategies, Tactical Trader, TNT Trader, Five Star Trader, Bullseye Stock Trader, and The Deep Woods. His books include co-authoring, “Billion Dollar Green: Profit from the Eco Revolution,” and “The Wealth Shield: How to Invest and Protect Your Money from Another Stock Market Crash, Financial Crisis or Global Economic Collapse.” He’s also ghostwritten many books and articles, as well as edited content for some of the investment industry’s biggest luminaries. His articles have appeared on many leading financial websites, including StockInvestor.com, InvestorPlace.com, Main Street Investor, MarketWatch, Street Authority, Human Events and many others. Jim formerly worked with Investor’s Business Daily founder William J. O’Neil, helping to author training courses in the CANSLIM stock-picking methodology. The independent firm TipRanks rates Jim the No. 3 financial blogger in the world (out of more than 6,000). TipRanks calculates that, since 2012, he's made 361 successful recommendations out of 499 total, earning a success rate of 72% and a +15.3% average return per recommendation. He is known in professional and personal circles as “The Renaissance Man,” because his expertise includes such varied fields as composing and performing music; Western horsemanship, combat marksmanship, martial arts, auto racing and bodybuilding. Jim holds a BA in philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is a former U.S. Army paratrooper. A self-described “radical for capitalism,” he celebrates the virtue of making money from his Southern California horse ranch.